Skip to main content

Amazon, Google integration helps Panasonic make inroads into your dashboard

The automotive industry has become a new turf for tech companies to wrestle over. At the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Panasonic announced it’s teaming up with big names like Google and Amazon to make driving more convenient, while also bringing more tech features to a greater number of motorists. And, looking ahead, the firm is preparing to surf the wave of cars that are autonomous, electric, or both.

Called Skip-Gen, Panasonic’s infotainment platform now runs Oreo, the latest Android operating system. The update gives drivers access to Android Automotive applications that provides services like navigation and weather information. It also lets them control vehicle functions such as climate settings using the Google Assistant. All of this is accessible directly on the car’s built-in touchscreen and doesn’t require a phone.

Recommended Videos

With Amazon, Panasonic is working to embed Alexa voice into next-generation infotainment systems. Motorists will soon be able to access in-vehicle functions like HVAC, media, communication, and navigation by simply saying “Alexa” to wake up the digital assistant. Some capabilities will even work without a network connection, ensuring smart cars don’t suffer a lobotomy as soon as they venture off the grid.

Panasonic, like many other tech companies, envisions a world where shared cars drive themselves. Before that, we’ll see a growing number of semiautonomous cars hit the road as the technology trickles down from relatively expensive cars like the Audi A8 into more affordable models. Panasonic is bringing three interior designs named Smart Design Cockpit, Smart Vision Cockpit, and Living Space Autonomous Cabin to CES. They correspond to levels two, three, and five on the autonomy scale.

Photos haven’t been released yet. Panasonic says the most basic cockpit relies on four screens that display information for the driver and the passengers. The driver can, for example, request navigation information and real-time data about the car and its surroundings. The front passenger can watch a movie on Netflix, while the rear passengers can watch cartoons on the go. At the other end of the spectrum, the interior for level five cars offers four configurations called living room, business, relax, and entertainment.

“As ride- and car-sharing become more commonplace, passengers will be able to have their own individual, customized experience,” the company summed up in a statement.

Ronan Glon
Ronan Glon is an American automotive and tech journalist based in southern France. As a long-time contributor to Digital…
New A.I. hearing aid learns your listening preferences and makes adjustments
Widex Moment hearing aids.

 

One of the picks for this year’s CES 2021 Innovation Awards is a smart hearing aid that uses artificial intelligence to improve the audio experience in a couple of crucial ways.

Read more
From Paris to NYC, Mobileye will bring self-driving cars to metropolises
A self-driving vehicle from Mobileye's autonomous test fleet navigates the streets of Detroit. (Credit: Mobileye, an Intel Company)

A Tesla in Autopilot mode can ply the highways of Northern California without issue, but when it comes to congested cities packed with erratic vehicle traffic, bikes, and pedestrians, cameras don’t always cut it. Or they didn’t, anyway. After years of testing, Intel-owned Mobileye intends to embrace the madness of the metropolis by rolling out self-driving cars in cities across the world.

On Monday, the first day of CES 2021, the company announced that Tokyo, Shanghai, Paris, Detroit, and New York City will all see fleets of Mobileye-powered vehicles rolled out in early 2021, if all goes well (regulatory issues are still being ironed out in NYC).

Read more
Mercedes-Benz’s new ‘Hyperscreen’ dashboard is a dazzling 56-inch OLED panel
mercedes benz eqs mbux hyperscreen infotainment system display

EQS with Unique MBUX Hyperscreen: The Big In-Car Cinema

Ahead of CES 2021, were getting a look at the future of cars -- and it's gigantic.

Read more